February 17, 2010 - GREAT NEWS!

Hello. Well . . . we are thrilled to share with you that Erik received his stroller yesterday! Please see recently posted photos. God is so good and the stroller is better than we anticipated. Erik fits perfectly with room to grow and the features are wonderful. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to those of you who contributed to the cost. We would not have been able to get this without your support! He can recline (this will make rest and diaper changing much easier when we are out), his legs can be raised (this will help with leg circulation and comfort), there is a canopy for shade, and more than anything his head and feet do not extend past the stroller! He just was SOOOOOOO happy when we put him in the stroller last night! It is REALLY light weight which is great for his nurses and all caregivers too. We have a doctor's appointment with Duke this afternoon to get Botox and we will be taking the new stroller along for use. It will be nice for him to be comfortable and this will be much easier to sue when we are in Charlotte getting HBOT twice per day. Please pray for comfort for Erik during this Botox appointment as this is a quick yet painful procedure. Thank you. Please also pray for our upcoming trip. We have set the dates for March 22 through April 16th. We have increased expenses this time in that expenses for furnished housing are added to our cost. This is approximately $2,000 for the duration. In addition, we were in hopes that CIGNA would help cover some of the costs this time to offset the housing but they are giving no indication that this will happen. The treatment is $3,180. Just last night a nurse who has not worked with Erik since before his HBOT treatments commented repeatedly about how much more alert and better Erik is. Since the last round of HBOT, he seems to be stronger, more focused. He is just so much fun and more engaged! We are looking forward to seeing the improvement another round of treatment will offer. In addition, we are again amazed how God works. With Erik having the VNS now to help control seizure activity, we are looking forward to seeing if the experience will be better due to less seizure activity. Please keep us in your prayers as we move forward with planning this trip. Many people have asked about our needs during the upcoming treatment in Charlotte so in response we added a section to his webpage sharing what we know will be additional needs during this time. Love in Christ, Erik's Family